Credit Accumulation at the First Attempt of Math 114Q
The Office of Institutional Research and Policy Studies was asked to look at the number of credits
accumulated by students prior to attempting the Mathematics 114Q.
We looked at six cohorts of students based on when they first attempted Math 114Q and used the
enrollment snapshot file for the semester the attempt was made to get the numbers of credits that
students had accumulated as of the beginning of the semester. We also matched Math 114Q records to
a master file showing the admissions type (freshman or transfer) of the students. A few students in
each cohort were not located in the master admissions file which went back only to fall of 2000. Each
of the testing cohorts below had the students in it enter UMass Boston over at least 14 different
admissions terms, with several having at least one student who entered in fall 2000. While transfers
tended to have higher pass rates than freshmen, spring 2012 was the only cohort where pass rates for
freshmen and transfers had statistically significant differences.
In general, fall entering freshmen attempted Math 114Q in the timeliest manner with more than half of
each cohort attempting it in the first semester at UMass Boston. Most of those attempting it in the
spring were in their first or second semester here with 12 as the median number of credits.
Students entering as transfers who needed Math 114Q were much more likely to delay than were the
freshmen. A large percentage of them delayed their first attempt at Math 114Q until they had
accumulated 105 or more credits.
Table 1 has the details of the number of students attempting each semester, with pass rates, the mean
and median numbers of credits when making the first attempt, and the percentage of each group who
had attempted by certain credit accumulation milestones.
Table 1: Credit Status when Attempting Math 114Q for the First Time
Spring 2011 Math 114Q Attempters
Number Attempting
Pass Rate
Mean Credits
Median Credits
PCT Attempting with 30 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 60 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 90 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 105 or more credits
Entered as Freshmen
Entered as Transfers
102
78.4%
19.9
12.0
81.4%
92.2%
96.1%
3.9%
106
87.7%
78.5
86.5
11.3%
34.9%
50.9%
30.2%
Continued
The Office of Institutional Research
Studies
Page 1 of 3
March 31, 2014
KBM
Table 1: Credit Status when Attempting Math 114Q for the First Time, continued
Fall 2011 Math 114Q Attempters
Number Attempting
Pass Rate
Mean Credits
Median Credits
PCT Attempting with 30 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 60 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 90 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 105 or more credits
Spring 2012 Math 114Q Attempters
Number Attempting
Pass Rate
Mean Credits
Median Credits
PCT Attempting with 30 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 60 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 90 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 105 or more credits
Fall 2012 Math 114Q Attempters
Number Attempting
Pass Rate
Mean Credits
Median Credits
PCT Attempting with 30 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 60 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 90 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 105 or more credits
Spring 2013 Math 114Q Attempters
Number Attempting
Pass Rate
Mean Credits
Median Credits
PCT Attempting with 30 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 60 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 90 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 105 or more credits
Entered as Freshmen
Entered as Transfers
208
81.8%
8.0
0.0
94.7%
95.2%
97.1%
1.4%
70
85.7%
73.7
78.5
14.3%
35.7%
62.9%
22.9%
Entered as Freshmen
Entered as Transfers
93
80.6%
23.3
13.0
77.4%
90.3%
94.6%
5.4%
77
94.8%
85.4
104.0
13.0%
26.0%
41.6%
48.1%
Entered as Freshmen
Entered as Transfers
166
87.3%
12.2
0.0
89.2%
91.6%
93.4%
3.6%
97
87.6%
71.9
74.0
18.6%
38.1%
63.9%
24.7%
Entered as Freshmen
Entered as Transfers
80
83.8%
27.1
13.0
73.4%
87.3%
91.1%
5.1%
76
92.1%
78.1
93.0
15.8%
31.6%
48.7%
32.9%
Continued
The Office of Institutional Research
And Policy Studies
Page 2 of 3
March 31, 2014
KBM
Table 1: Credit Status when Attempting Math 114Q for the First Time, continued
Fall 2013 Math 114Q Attempters
Number Attempting
Pass Rate
Mean Credits
Median Credits
PCT Attempting with 30 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 60 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 90 or fewer credits
PCT Attempting with 105 or more credits
The Office of Institutional Research
And Policy Studies
Entered as Freshmen
Entered as Transfers
142
83.2%
14.7
0.0
83.8%
89.4%
95.1%
3.5%
79
89.9%
64.6
66.0
26.6%
43.0%
69.9%
17.8%
Page 3 of 3
March 31, 2014
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